Scaffold for Winter Celebrations and International Religion Day (Secondary)

This is the ideal Warm-Up to use to address what’s happening in the world today. This Warm-Up gives our students the opportunity to explore their own beliefs and to have a safe place to negotiate their and their classmates’ beliefs about winter celebrations and whatever religion their families follow.    The activity encourages students to separate the dogma of religions from the intention, to recognise traditional practices common in many religion (in other words, see the similarities), and to negotiate with their classmates the relevance (or irrelevance) of religions in the present.   There is also a focus on gender and how women specifically are treated in world religions. Winter is the perfect time to examine all celebrations, open our minds to other possibilities, and reconsider beliefs.   There are several links to templates, websites and other resources that are not easily found and are priceless in what they will render to the discussion that follows. I am passionate about this Warm-Up and believe you will very quickly see what value it has for your students’ thinking of these critical issues.